


Multiverse Theory

by inthebeginningtherewasM



Category: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Angst, F/M, I'm Sorry, Sad, but not like you think, but not many, happy things
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-09
Updated: 2019-04-09
Packaged: 2020-01-07 12:03:17
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,507
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18410261
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/inthebeginningtherewasM/pseuds/inthebeginningtherewasM
Summary: The mind wanders. And wonders. There is so much that could have happened.





	Multiverse Theory

**Author's Note:**

> Hey, sweet peas!  
> I have to say, I'm on fire at the moment. The third project in a little less over a week? That's good, right?  
> Anyway, WARNING: This is not a fic about shiny and happy things. This is mostly sad. And weird. Man, it got so weird. Don't read if you can't take the sadness. Or the weirdness.

In the theory of the multiverse, more than our own universe exists. In the theory of the multiverse there are many different universes stacked on top of each other, vibrating at a different speed, invisible to one another. Or splitting up whenever a diversion of events occurs. Or an never ending cycle of big bangs and ends of the world, just to start all over again. Many different versions. Many different scenarios. Many different outcomes.

 

 

1.

If there is something like another universe, then there is a universe where TAHITI never happens. Phil Coulson dies at the hands of Loki and not only for eight seconds or forty. Phil Coulson dies and hours later, when the world is safe and the Chitauri crisis is averted somebody will call Melinda May at her desk in Administrations and inform her about Phil Coulsons demise. She will drink herself to sleep that night and grief. And she will spend the rest of her life behind a desk, spinning red tape.

 

2.

If there are other universes, then there is one where Phil tells Audrey that he is alive. One where they can make this relationship work, through long emails, late night phone calls, voice mails, spontaneous visits, weekends together. Melinda is invited to the wedding, of course, because they have long since made up after their fight in Providence, are back on a base of rekindled trust and silent friendship. She sits in the back, even after some of the team try to convince her to sit in the first row but because Phil is the director and SHIELD is still on the watch list, somebody has to look out for them, look out for Phil, when so many agents are here and they are all making a target of themselves. Melinda looks out for them. Because this is her role in Phil’s life. She will always have his back.

 

3.

Maybe there is a universe where Grant Ward doesn’t take any risks. He sees May leaving the bus with her duffle bag, waits till she walked down the ramp and shoots her in the back twice. She topples over, has never seen it coming.

They find her body later, outside the secret Providence base, half covered in snow. Her eyes are vacant, staring into the abyss, her ears deaf for the cries of the people she left behind, just a sack of flesh and bones, no soul. She never hears the agony in Phil’s voice, his pleas, his denial, his apologies, his whispered declaration of trust and friendship and love.

 

4.

There might be a universe where Phil indeed loses his mind over the GH 325 coursing through his veins. There is blood on his teeth and madness in his eyes, the carvings make so much sense, don’t they? Can’t they see? Can’t they see what he sees, can’t they understand that there is God in his brain, whispering all the answers?

The members of his teams are stepping stones on his way to the divine truth or obstacles, only there to be eradicated. He steps over Simmons’ crumpled body and doesn’t spare the bloody, unrecognizable mess that is Fitz’ face a second glance. The carvings on the wall show all he needs to see.

 

5.

And in one universe Phi is never recruited by SHIELD. He goes to college and university, studies history, travels the world before he becomes a teacher, meets a girl, marries. He buys a house with a white picket fence and a garden, gets a dog he calls Steve. He is well-liked by his neighbors, loves his wife and his 2.4 kids more than anything and gets ogled by the single mothers at bake sales and PTA meetings.

There are news stories about alien attacks, shaky camera footage and explosions on television and his wife huddles closer to him, their nerves strung tight with confusion and concern and thank God the kids are sleeping already. They will find nothing substantial about the attack in the papers the next morning, everything is unsure, nobody knows anything substantial, because an organization called SHIELD is covering everything up and Phil is mad, so mad, because how can they keep the truth from the public, how can they just censor history?

 

6.

There is this one universe where Phil never makes it back from that alien planet because diving from a plane through a portal the size of a kiddy pool is just too outrageous of a plan.

And Melinda is standing on the other side.

She waits for him. He is coming back, right? The portal sizzles, bright unnatural light burns in her eyes. Phil has to come back. He has to. She waits. Others around her are shouting, telling her it’s time to go. Melinda shakes her head.

She waits some more.

 

7.

Consider a universe where Phil and Melinda are not friends. They never went to the Academy together. They’ve seen each other in briefing rooms. They climb the ranks separately, maybe read the others name in some report or other. They don’t talk. They never meet, never talk. They live their lives, each his own. They are not important to each other. Think about it.

How is it possible that agents around the whole world are on standby because of one agent? „What agent is that important for so many people to respond to a request for help“, Melinda scoffs. She doesn’t understand. It’s ridiculous. Victoria Hand smirks at her, pleased. „Coulson is.“

 

8.

I guess it matters to you that they don’t both die, right? Okay. You can have one. Choose one of them. One will be staying permanently in the Framework though.

Do they never find out that the woman Phil kissed in the library is a LMD? Does Phil forever think he is a history professor teaching Inhuman kids, his believes never shaken, his memories never resurfacing? What if May doesn’t follow Phil through the portal back to the real world?

I’m telling you, there are so many possibilities. But you can only have one. It’s just the way it is. Choose.

 

9.

By the way, how much does it matter to you, the person reading this, if Phil dies on Tahiti after two days or two weeks? Is it important if he tells her one last time that he loves her before he does his last breath? Or does he die, alone, while Melinda is just in the kitchen to get him a glass of water?

In this universe, maybe he makes it two weeks. Maybe even a little bit more. She is holding his hand, skin on skin, her lips to his forehead, while the light in his eyes slowly vanishes. There are no words coming from him, because he hasn’t been able to speak anymore for the last few hours, not enough air in his lungs for more than a rasp and a moan. Think of Melinda telling him she loves him over and over so it’s the last thing he hears in this world, so she can be sure he knows. Two days, two weeks, two years - it would have never been enough, would it?

 

10.

Is there a universe where Phil and Melinda are married and have a beautiful little daughter named Daisy? You would like that, right? Okay. You can have that.

But also consider that maybe they are just not cut out for this life with a home and a family and school runs and recitals and pancakes in the morning. Maybe they long for more, for a different life. Maybe they are not enough for each other like that.

 

11.

I guess there is also some universe where they are not secret agents. They are not spies. They are just two regular people who meet at a coffeeshop one day. Just because. What do I know? In some alternate universe, I’m sure it could happen.

 

12.

If there is something like another universe there might be one where they finally get their act together. Phil and Melinda, two people who have been friends and partners for so many years. Who mean a lot to each other, a lot. Two people who cannot live without the other, who are so important to each other, laugh together, fight side by side. Two people who have silent conversations, who can communicate through eye-rolls and smirks, who go out of their way to keep the other safe, to keep the other happy. One day all this might be boiling over and there will be a confession. There will be disbelieving stares and maybe some denial before desperate pleas or resigned sighs. There will be an „I love you“ and then another, there will be tentative touches and heartfelt kisses, every unsaid thing will be resolved and their world will be better and brighter for it.

 

In the theory of the multiverse, more than our own universe exists. Many different versions. Happy ones. Sad ones. Many different outcomes. One can believe in this multiverse theory. Or not.

**Author's Note:**

> I could have made this much longer but I decided to leave it like that. By the way, can somebody tell me if the rating is okay? I wasn't sure. If not, please tell me and I will change it. Also, I just figured out that I might be quite literally on fire because I'm running a fever which might be the reason why this fic is so freaking weird. I apologize. Could be that take it down tomorrow when I'm not delirious anymore. Still, I would love to know what you think. I apologize for all this rambling. And the sad. And the weird. Sorry. <3


End file.
